The loss of CLASSIC99
evokes so many levels of feeling and thoughts within. I grew up in Belleville
listening to this station and it was the prime catalyst for my becoming such a
passionate listener/appreciator of Classical music. I've heard voices of late
around these station corridors. The voices of those with whom I grew up as a
listener and came to know for all too brief a time when joining KFUO - FM : the
late Lynwood Smith, the late Herb Freer, Bob Ault , plus the deliciously
irrepressible opera master Robert Orchard; not to mention those with whom I had
good fortune to work and become friends with: Bob Evans (the closest thing to a
mentor and a superb one), Anthaneses Roberts (the brother supposedly I never
had), Geoff Norcross, Susan Thomas, Monica Senecal, the late Bob Chase (a
staggeringly professional, last of his kind) Kathy Sitzer, Kathy Lawton Brown,
Judi Mann and - never to be excluded - the late Jim Carl. Time and circumstance
have silenced those voices, but whether they passed on, or merely through, they
will always be for me a part of that resonant memory of what CLASSIC99 was.
I never dreamed listening to the station back then that I would one day
become one of the voices of CLASSIC99. Other memories flit by, such as leading
listeners to the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and becoming friends with
them as they returned year in and out. Two people (the usual number) even
married from meeting on these station trips. (Hearing Domingo sing Otello at
the Met was the fulfillment of a life long dream.) Similar culture vulture
excursions ensued to Santa Fe, San Francisco, and Chicago.
The Top 99
Concerts with the Saint Louis Symphony was the chance to finally say hello to
you face to face. You were from all walks of life, all ages and you thronged to
just say "hello" and tell me how thrilled you were to meet me or my other
colleagues. On the contrary, what a thrill, and honor, it was to finally meet
you. We had no idea what effect we had. My head would spin afterward in
shocked/sober amazement. (I have to say, to walk out on the Powell Hall stage
and bring down a full 2700 seat house with laughter (on purpose) is an amazing
feeling for one who was a shy, introverted, socially awkward kid and young man.
Bob Hope was right, it is addictive.)
A particular pleasure and
satisfaction was my advocacy of opera and the relationships formed thereby with
Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Union Avenue Opera. Regarding the former, I was
grateful to assist - I hope - this internationally acclaimed organization as it
goes from strength to strength combining extreme artistic excellence with
fiduciary responsibility. As per the latter it was a thrill to contribute to,
and see, an effort, in infancy, grow and develop into the vibrant young company
it is today as it fosters talent and new audiences for opera.
The St.
Louis Art Museum has an amazing group of people for their staff. (It's an
amazing museum.) Friday Morning with the Arts was never more fun than when
speaking with a member of that treasure house. All of the organizations in St.
Louis are treasures and it was a supreme honor for me to promote and bolster
them via the Friday morning show and beyond.
I am proud to have been a
voice for St. Louis' arts and culture community for 24 years. I hope to
continue doing so in another capacity utilizing the talents I have honed and
developed. I am proud to have had a media career where I believed in the worth
and purpose of what I was doing and did not have to hang my head in shame at
compromises which I never had to make.(Rare these days.) I am proud to have
been able to make a positive contribution on an individual and communal level.
I will miss helping you face the day and provide a soundtrack for it that
could, by turn, compliment your life's high points, or assuage you during the
low ones. Your communications of support, hope and yes, grief these past few
months have buoyed and sustained my (and our) spirits through a difficult time.
I have been overwhelmed by by the depth and fervency of your response to the
impending death of CLASSIC99 and the time which I have spent with you. It seems
I and my colleagues (a band of brothers really) did something right. It was a
privilege. All I can say is "thank you". I, and they, could not have done it
without you. I hope our efforts enlarged and enriched the boundaries of your
life in the same way as it did mine listening to KFUO - FM all those years ago.
You and the others have been the best audience in the world. For the rest of my
days it will stay with me, those happy memories of what we were able to do,
once upon a time. Robert Frost once wrote:"Nothing gold can stay"...sadly true
but thanks to you...the glow remains.
Tom Sudholt
Weekday Morning
Drive Announcer
Producer/Host, Saturday Afternoon at the Opera
Producer/Host, Friday Morning with the Arts
CLASSIC99, KFUO - FM, St.
Louis, Missouri |
Photo by Katie
Sudholt |
